Offshore staff
SINGAPORE — Jadestone Energy and OMV New Zealand have called off a planned transaction that would have transferred operatorship of the producing Maari oil field offshore New Zealand to Jadestone.
Following legislative changes introduced late last year to the country’s upstream regulatory framework, the two parties had tried to seek clarity on the processes, terms and timeline for completing the transfer.
But with no progress on regulatory approval, and uncertainty over the timing of when this might come through, the parties decided to terminate the transaction.
Jadestone President and CEO Paul Blakeley said, “Whilst disappointing, we have been signaling that the lack of progress on Maari was an increasing concern and today, almost 12 months after the new legislation came into effect, there is still little to no clarity on what is required from Jadestone to receive the necessary government approval to complete the acquisition.
“Nearly three years after the acquisition was first announced, and with an upcoming license expiry in 2027, this leaves insufficient time to confidently invest in the asset and therefore, despite our best efforts, it is now time to move on.”
Jadestone had identified various investment opportunities based on the field’s large in-place reserves and low recovery factor to date, he added.
As for the company’s offshore upstream projects elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, the company is closer to a solution for completing repairs on the Montara Venture FPSO offshore northwest Australia, and the first well for the Stag infill drilling program is at the completion stage while the second well should soon reach the reservoir interval.
Jadestone expects to complete another planned acquisition, in the North West Shelf oil project, from bp in the current quarter.
10.27.2022
